The Will
by AnythingInTheShadows
Summary: Emma Swan dies due to a shooting while chasing an escaped convict. She leaves a will for her daughter Haley sending her to Storybrooke to hand over a box to no other than Regina Mills. Full summary inside, AU no curse or magic past SQ rating Will be T unless stated otherwise
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys this is just a story plot that came to me in a dream and as my laptop has died on me I thought I'd write this up as I rewrite the next chapter for Scars we choose to keep was I've lost it due to my laptop being a shithead.

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Summary; Emma Swan has died due to being shit while tracking down a escaped convict. Leaving a will to her daughter Haley ,she sends her on a journey to Storybrooke to hand over a box to no other than Regina Mills. Regina has to face up to her past memories and demons but can the daughter of her ex lover mend her darken heart?

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The will.

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If a piece of paper told you to do something, would you have the guts to do so even if it meant heartache at the end? What of it told you to jump of a bridge or do some other crazy ass stunt that could end up killing you. Would you follow through with it or toss the paper in the bin ?

Well that isn't the case for fourteen year old Haley; all she had to do was do a couple of bus journeys from Boston to Storybrooke Maine. And it all came down to the box that was secured in her bag. Now all she had to do was find the person who would be the new owner of said box and hopefully it wouldn't take too long seeing as she had to be back in Boston within a week seeing as all her "living family" where unknown to her and the person her mother once loved had moved away before the girl was even born.

Sighing the girl ran her fingers over her baby blanket as she came to terms that she'd be living the life her mother never wanted her to experience. The bus pulled into the kerb and cut the engine, leaning over a seat the driver shouted out Storybrooke and gave everyone who was getting off ten minutes to collected everything that belonged to them. Luckily for Haley she only had her bag so she got up with ease and headed towards the small café named Granny's. Maybe just maybe she'd be able to find this woman and then she could catch the bus that would drive past here in the morning.

Once inside the café the young female took a seat in one of the empty booths and waited to be served, she didn't mind that it had taken the waitress twenty minutes to even get the chance to come over and ask if she wanted anything. Thinking about how much she had left and the fact that she still needed to find a room for the night Haley played it safe and ordered chilly cheese fries and a coke. After the red streaked brunette had left with her order the female searched her bag for the piece of paper that had sent her to this town in the first place, finding it at the bottom of her bag she pulled it out and let her eyes scan over the writing.

_"Dear Haley, We both know I'm not that good at being sappy , but we both know the reason you are reading this is because my time has came. I have one thing I need you to do for me and that is to go to Storybrooke Maine and find a women there called Regina Mills. The box that goes along with this letter is for her. I know it's a big ask and task for a teenager especially one who has just lost their mother but everything will become clear later on... I hope. I'm sorry I had to leave you baby but we both knew the operation due to the shooting there was going to be a chance that my heart wouldn't make it. I just hope that you don't have to go through the same life I did. I will always love you baby never forget that. Mom xx"_

Rubbing her eyes the female sniffed and ran her fingers over the crease in the paper stuffing the thing back into her bag. When her food came the girl ate it as quickly as she could she just wanted to find this Regina Mills person and get the hell out of this place. Paying for her food Haley left the café behind and walked down the street of Storybrooke, sighing the girl huffed before a bulletin board caught her attention. "VOTE Regina Mills for Mayor Year 2014-2018. pick up your registration forms from city hall..." the girl didn't bother reading the rest and basically ran towards the big building across the road surely this had to be it. Haley thought to herself as she pushed the doors open and walked down the hallway to another set of doors once she was past them she came in contract with a receptionist.

"How can I help you miss?" The red head asked as she finished writing down a memo. Biting her lip the younger female sighed before letting her eyes roam around the room.

"I'm here to see Regina Mills it's a personal matter." Haley spoke before sitting down on one the sofas. "And please tell the mayor I'm not leaving till I see her."

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Mayor Mills said behind her desk writing up the final budgeting report for the month, sighing softly the woman lent back in her seat with a small smile playing on her face as she enjoyed the peaceful five minutes before her P.A came through with the files that she'd be taken home with her.

"Mayor Mills there is a girl here waiting to see you" Her P.A's voice came through her intercom. Sighing slightly Regina pushed the button and told Jane to send her in. The door to her office opened and a small moosey brunette wandered in holding a box against her chest. Walking over to the Mayor's desk the girl placed the box on the desks surface then stepped back.

"Do you mind telling me who you are and why you are here?" Regina asked the girl as she moved the box further towards herself.

"I'm Haley, my mother sent me here to give you this box." The girl replied with a shrug as she pulled her bag onto her shoulders.

"And who is you mother dear, wouldn't it of been better if she brought me this box instead of her daughter" The mayor stated Looking at the floor the teenager sighed before shaking her head. "

My mother's name is Emma, Emma Swan and I'm sorry to disappoint you Madame Mayor but she died three weeks." The girl spoke from the door pulling it shut behind her as she heard the Mayor gasp in some kind of shock. "Time to go home" Haley muttered to herself and headed out of the building and back down the street towards the café hopefully the waitress inside could help her in finding a hotel for the night.

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Tell me what you guys think (:


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to everyone for your reviews. I actually didn't know what to expect when I put this up but I see that you guys love this story so I thought while I'm trying to figure out how to write the rest of the scars we choose to keep chapter I'd post the next one for this. (: enjoy.

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Haley had finally made her way back to the small café it was still early and the girl had nothing else to do so instead of wandering the street's she sat in the same booth as earlier and pulled out her sketch pad. Her mother had always told her to follow her dreams and since her premature death Haley knew she'd listen to her mother's words and work hard to get into an art college no matter what the cost. Sighing slightly the young female rub at her ears in hope of getting the fuzzy pitched noise to stop and give her peace while she drew.

Ruby looked over from the counter come bar at night to the girl,she'd been in here twice yet she was a new face among the regulars maybe someone had bought the old Meyer's place and she had came in here to keep out of her parents hair. Pouring a hot chocolate the waitress walked over to the booth and placed the mug down before sitting across from the girl. Her eyes caught the lines of one of her sketches and her face broke out in a small smile. "You're really good, also I brought you some hot chocolate, don't worry it's on the house." The older woman paused as she pushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

"I'm Ruby by the way." She stated as she looked at the girl while her hands wrapped around the warm mug. Haley looked up and smiled before taken a sip of her favourite drink. "Thank you and my name's Haley." The girl replied then went back to drawing the town's clock. Ruby took the silence as her Que to leave the girl at it, it was easy to see she was one of those people who prefer their own company when it came to their hobby.

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The Mayor watched as the girl left her room not getting the chance to ask her where she was staying or if she was heading back to Boston seeing as that was where she had last seen Emma before their breakup and she assumed the city is where she had stayed for the past fourteen or so years. Sitting back in her chair Regina opened the box which revealed a white and brown envelop. With shaken hands tanned fingers pulled the white square out, peaking the taped side open the woman gently slid the paper out and unfolded it to read the writing.

**_Dear Regina, _**

**_I'm sorry you didn't get to read this before my death I was shot while on a chase and after the operation I got told I had a fifty-fifty chance of my heart fail which as you now know it did. You are a hard one to track down and again I'm so sorry that it has taken me so long to send you this letter. A week after you left our home I found out that the IVF had finally work and we were going to have the baby we had so desperately tried to have for those past four years. After finding out I spent every day looking for you as I wanted you to have that chance to be in our child's life but at seven months I went into early labour and all my time was either spent with Haley or trying to finish the nursery off for her coming home. Haley was born on the 16th of June 1999 at midnight weighing 3lbs 4oz. I wish you got to be there to see her birth but now I'm just glad you know that she exists. At two weeks old she had to go under an operation on her lungs as she had a blood clot which was close to making her lung collapse. I have enclosed a photo book in the brown envelop along with custody papers please note that if you do not feel comfortable with this then I will understand plus Haley doesn't know that you are her other mother I didn't want to get her hopes up in case I never found you or make her think that you where a bad person because you weren't we both said stuff we shouldn't of and I should of went out looking for you and brought you back but I didn't. Haley is a special girl she was born hard of hearing and has to wear hearing aids which of they bother her she will take them out, if she starts rubbing her ears then that's her way of saying that they will soon be coming out and she won't be able to hear you as well. If she places her fingers behind her ears she is switching them off because she wants to be alone for a little while but don't worry if she does so it's just her way of having space while still being in your company. I really don't know what else to say apart from please look after her well if you do decide on signing the papers and if not maybe you could help her find a family who will understand her needs. I have always loved you and I hope you get to know our little girl. All my love Your Emma. Xx_**

Tear drops fell onto the paper as the older woman took everything in. She had left her ex-girlfriend pregnant and she didn't even know the child that had came in no longer than an hour ago was her daughter and she couldn't get her head round it. The baby they had both prayed for all those years ago had finally been born. Wiping her eyes clear of her tears Regina opened up the brown envelop and pulled both the adoption papers and the photo book out. Flipping through the pages the woman watched as her daughter grew from a tiny infant into a young child then the last photo was dated four weeks ago she and Emma where both dressed in their pyjamas junk food and DVD cases surrounding them both had smiling faces as they sat on a bed watching movies. In that photo she could see how frail Emma really was it must of been before the woman had passed away. Closing the book and placing it in her bag Regina settled the papers in front of her and signed all the parts that had to be signed she wasn't going to let her daughter slip through her fingers a second time not now that she knew she existed. Putting the papers in the returned envelop the mayor piled it in with the rest of her mail that would be sent away in the morning. After that was all down she stood up switched the lights off and left the office in hopes of finding her daughter before she got on the bus back to Boston.

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Half an hour later and many places searched the Mayor found the figure she was looking for in one of the booths at Granny' s. Walking inside Regina made her way over to the girl and sat down.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you but I was wondering if maybe you would like to come back to mine and we can have dinner and talk?." Regina asked before running her fingers through her hair nervously. "I read the letter that your mother wrote and left for me and I have a few questions to discuss with you."

Haley looked up from her drawing and bit her bottom lip while she thought about everything the Mayor had just said but seeing as she was here she might as well hear her out and maybe find out why her mother had sent her here in the first place. So with a nod of her head and after she had placed her sketch pad back in her bag the pair left the diner and walked the small distance to the Mayor's house. Once inside Regina showed the girl into the kitchen and started to pull out the ingredients to make lasagne.

"I hope you're okay with Lasagne I have to doing my weekly shopping tomorrow and I was planning on making this tonight." Regina spoke as she placed the mince in the frying pan to cook. Pulling herself onto one of the kitchen stools Haley smiled softly and nodded her head as she rubbed her ears again the sizzling from the mice was making the static in her hearing aids worse. Regina notice and bit her lip gently before standing across from the girl. "It's fine if you want to take them out I'm quite happy to speak through writing on paper." The older woman stated as her hands jested to the girls ears.

Haley looked up in surprise at what the woman just said. Tilting her head slightly she glanced at the female before speaking. "How... how did you know?" She asked before rubbing her ears slightly again. "And its fine about the paper if you sit next to me I'll be able to hear you." The girl added as Regina nodded and put the number of the gas down so the mice wouldn't over cook then sat on the seat next to her daughter.

"Your mother told me in her letter, she actually told me quite a bit about you and I'm sorry that I found all this out after she had died and not before hand. I'm sorry that I missed you growing up but I think that conversation is for when everything is put in the oven." Regina smiled softly patted the girl on the shoulder then went back to making their dinner. Ten minutes later the older brunette placed the lasagne in the oven and motion for the girl to follow her through into the living room, when they both sat down on the sofa Haley placed one of hearing aids back in and faced the woman whom she had travelled six hours on a bus to find and hand over the box her mother had left.

"Your mother and I met six years before you where born I was a law student and your mother was this wild free spirit that wormed her way into my heart. Back then she was just starting out in the bounty hunter business and was in a couple of my classes so she could pass her exams. A couple of months later we started dating I finished law school a year later and your mother was chasing people who jumped bail while I worked in one of Boston's law firms. On the second year that we had been dating we both decided that we wanted to start a family so we went through sessions of IVF, but they failed each time." Regina paused and sighed as she tried to find the words to say to the girl.

"After a while each failed attempt got to the pair of us and we started arguing over stupid little things and the Emma went to the last appointment along we both set ourselves up with disappointment that it wasn't going to work and a week before we found out the results we got into a massive fight that blew out of proportion we said things we shouldn't of and I left never to be seen again. The thing is though that a week later Emma found out she was pregnant with you the baby we had both fought so hard for and argued over so many times had finally been conceived and I never found out until today when I read her letter. She left me with custody papers and gave me the choice to sign them or not. She didn't tell you about me for two reason she didn't want to get your hopes up encase she couldn't find me again and so you didn't grow up thinking I was a bad person and didn't want to know you because believe me if I had known I would of done everything in my power to watch you grow up but now I want to give you the choice I've signed the papers which will give me fully custody of you if you wish to give this a try and if it doesn't work I will make sure you get a family who understand all the needs that you need. It's completely up to you and either way I want you to know that no matter what you need when ever you need me I'll be right here." The older woman finished before studying the girls face to try and see what she was thinking.

Haley listened to every word the older woman has spoken, apparently she had to mothers and this was the reason why she had came to Storybrooke. Sighing the girl thought and mulled everything over in her head maybe she could give this a try see how everything went. Biting her lip Haley looked up at Regina and nodded her head softly. "I'd...I'd like to try this maybe it won't be a bad thing but I would like to get to know you."

Both females smiled at each other with watery eyes and they both knew that the road ahead wasn't going to be an easy ride there was going to be challenges that they would need to face head on but no one said life was easy and they could get to those challenges when they reared their ugly heads but one day there would be light at the end of the tunnel.

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So let me know what you think. (: Also my beta for the scars we chose to keep is the same beta for this she is busy with a new job at the moment so I posted this without her looking over it. It will most likely be edited and reloaded once she has the chance to look at it. She's also uploaded her own fanfiction please go check it out her pen name is EvilRegalBonhamCarter Thank you .


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